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Thursday, August 26, 2010

One of the toughest part of getting older is, for my husband and I at least, to cut down on the things that we've always enjoyed. Salt, of course, is one of those things that makes EVERYTHING taste better, but does NOT do nice things for things like blood pressure – and of course, we’re both heavily cursed with family histories. So that means that we have to be especially mindful of our salt intake on a daily basis as well as educating our children about the dangers of excess so that they grow up healthier than we have.

Mrs. Dash has helped us do that. Creating flavorful low-sodium meals for our family, without having them reaching for the salt shaker the minute the food hits their mouths, is made much easier with the variety of products that Mrs. Dash has available. My favorite – or I should say, ONE of my favorites, is the italian medley, which I use in any manner of ways, including this one.

Grilled Italian Chicken

Heat your grill up at least 5-7 minutes to be sure the grate is nice and hot. While it’s heating, sprinkle the Mrs. Dash Italian Medley seasoning blend over the chicken breasts, both front and backside. Once the grill is hot, place the chicken on the grill. Leave it there for at least 5 minutes – do not mess with it. Leave it alone! After about 5 minutes, the chicken will have seared well on the grates and should be readily released when you grab it with your tongs. Flip it and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 165 degrees F.

Enjoy!

I serve this with a salad and everyone just LOVES it. You could also serve it with some nice (no salt added) pasta sauce and pasta. Let it cool and throw it in a salad. There’s no limit!

I know I can be assured that the Mrs. Dash seasoning blend I choose for whatever I’m cooking will be safe for us to use, and it’s one less thing I have to worry about. Win Win!

I wrote this blog post while participating in the Mrs. Dash and TwitterMoms blogging program for a chance to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here. Thank you!

Monday, August 23, 2010

You’re probably thinking “wha…?”. I would have been too, had I heard that name before I actually HAD the drink. Let me explain.

2 weeks ago (wow, time flies), I attended BlogHer, a big blogging conference in New York City. About 2 weeks before the conference, I received an invitation to attend a blogger’s night out party at … get this… MARTHA STEWART’S PLACE! Ok, not her HOUSE, but at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Impressive, no?

I was so psyched! A roof top party in New York? The photographer in me said HELL YEAH!

Well, the weather said hell no. So it was held inside one of their studios, and it was packed to the gills with bloggers of all walks. For me personally, I had no idea how I’d made the invite list, as I’d never even talked about Martha before, have I? But hey, I was there. As I showed you previously, the food was amazing. The swag (gifts) was amazing. The view – amazing.

In fact, several of us were waiting outside our hotel for a taxi that evening – to go to Martha. A man approached us and asked if we’d like a limo. We collectively rolled our eyes and went back to sweating. The guy was serious, and only wanted $5 per PERSON to take us to the location – which was across the city – at RUSH HOUR. So 8-1/2 of us jumped out of the taxi line and took A LIMO to the Martha Stewart party, thankyouverymuch.

Anyway, the party was amazing (as long as you weren’t claustrophobic), and one of the DRINKS served was green. I was dubious – especially when they said it was BASIL.

Because of the crowd, it was difficult to hear the bartender list the ingredients, but I figured hey, I love basil – vodka – ok… and it’s free, why not try it.

THIS WAS THE BEST DECISION of that night. Ok, maybe not the whole night, but damned close. Anyone who asked me about the party that night, and the rest of the weekend – that’s the first thing I told them about – the BASIL drink. LOL

Because I don’t want to get sued by Martha, I’m just going to give the link to the drink – but seriously, go – read – make – drink.

Friday, August 20, 2010

I love fast lunches. Because we home school, we have lunch (and breakfast… and dinner) every single day. But because we do that, the choices can get pretty boring. This was something I just sort of made up that turned out to be such a crowd pleaser, there was NONE left. That’s a rare feat in my house.

Suddenly Salad – Bacon & Ranch flavor

1/4 c low-fat sour cream

1/4 c Kraft olive oil mayo

1 c. leftover chicken, diced

Boil the pasta as directed. While that’s cooking, mix the seasoning mix that comes with the salad with the sour cream and mayo. (I’ve tweaked the directions that came with the salad to lower the fat content.) Once the pasta is cooked, strain it and rinse with cold water. Be sure to drain it thoroughly. Toss with the seasoning mix and chicken, and you’re done! This is a great recipe that you can do in the morning and just put in the fridge for later. 15 minutes and you’re done!

It’s also great for “hiding” vegetables in plain site. Although it does come with some veggies, I always toss in more, just for the fun of it (insert evil laugh here).

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

I don’t normally post Wordless Wednesdays here, but I attended the huge blogging conference called BlogHer. One of the events I was fortunate to be invited to was the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Bloggers’ Nite Out Party. O M G. So here’s my food edition!